YUJI Ramen

Located in New York City, YUJI Ramen is one of our most unique loan recipients to date! YUJI Ramen runs two eateries, sit down and takeout, within Whole Foods Market locations – in the Bowery and the Brooklyn stores.

Owned and operated by Yuji Haraguchi, YUJI Ramen started as a pop-up ramen shop at Whole Foods Market Bowery in 2013. YUJI was originally part of the Smorgasburg Pop-Up Program, an innovative Northeast Regional initiative that rotated local New York food vendors made popular at the Smorgasburg market in Brooklyn, and activating ready-to-eat venues for 30 days at the Bowery store. YUJI was so successful that they became permanent.

They went on to open their second location at the Third and 3rd Brooklyn Store. The philosophy of YUJI Ramen is to make ramen more healthy, seasonal, local and accessible to more American consumers. They specialize in a Tokyo cult-favorite style of flavorful ramen called “Mazemen” which is ramen served without broth. With this loan, Yuji plans to build a kitchen where he can expand capacity and ultimately support more Whole Foods Market locations.